"What were you thinking the last couple of days?" that night while having dinner, Wang Yao's mother asked. She realized that Wang Yao looked like he was in a daze, even while eating.
"Nothing much, just thinking about a patient's illness," Wang Yao smiled.
"Patient? What kind of patient?"
"A child," Wang Yao quipped.
"Is the illness serious?"
"It's alright. Hey, don't worry so much!" Wang Yao smiled at his mother.
"Okay, don't forget, you still don't have a medical qualification certificate; don't let these people unreasonably depend on you," his mother kindly reminded him.
"I know."
Since the treatment plan was more or less decided, Wang Yao arranged to meet Zhou Xiong to discuss it. As for the plan, Zhou Xiong was agreeable. Apart from discussing the treatment plan, Wang Yao told Zhou Xiong about his personal rules, the most important one being that he should not disclose matters about him to anyone else without his permission. Wang Yao was particularly adamant about this point.
"This is..." Zhou Xiong was apologetic.
"Yes?" Wang Yao saw his reaction and queried.
"Before I came to Lianshan, I told my family. Hence my parents already knew about this matter, but I have not told them your identity," Zhou Xiong said.
"Please tell them not to tell anyone else."
"Yes, sure."
To his request, Zhou Xiong was ready to agree and felt that the request was not unreasonable.
"Regarding your son's illness, do be prepared. I do not have absolute confidence, and will not be able to treat his illness in a short amount of time," Wang Yao added.
"I know," Zhou Xiong replied.
For the past years, due to his son's illness, he had undergone situations unimaginable to most people and had already trained himself mentally. Even if there was a tiny sliver of hope, he could wait for, tolerate and pay the relevant price.
"How long will you be staying here?"
"This depends on your requirements," Zhou Xiong said. "We will try our best to accommodate."
"Okay, please wait three days," Wang Yao pondered before responding.
"Sure, however…"
"Please say what's on your mind." Wang Yao observed Zhou Xiong's hesitance.
"How much would it cost to treat my son?"
Zhou Xiong had enquired over the phone before, but Wang Yao's response then was that he needed to see the patient first. Without seeing the patient, he would not know what medicine to use, how to treat him and how much it would cost. Even now, he had an idea of how much it would approximately cost, and it was definitely expensive because the child would need at least two of the system's formulas.
Regather soup: Strengthens bones and consolidates the corporeity.
Blood Deblocker Powder: Activate blood and clean it of debris
The purpose of the Regather soup was to help the child in the short term, and to recover from the damage wrought by the illness and the various medications he had taken. He was already very familiar with this formula and had sufficient experience with it. Regarding the Blood Deblocker Powder, from the time he obtained the formula to this point, he had yet to decoct it because it required two licorice roots—Ziyu and Wuteng.
Although he had already planted these two herbs, their growth was very slow and they were a long way from being ready to be used for decoction.
One dose of the Regather Soup was worth 100 thousand yuan. When there were two licorice roots involved, the Blood Deblocker Powder would be worth way more.
"I am unable to estimate yet. However, the price will not be cheap," Wang Yao said.
"Okay, I will prepare."
Before leaving, Wang Yao looked at the quiet, somewhat shy and timid child.
Giving away a free formula every three days might be worth trying, he thought.
According to the system, he now had the ability to give a free formula originating from the system every three days, and up to this point, he had only used this ability once. The reason was that he had been in contact with the very rich so far, and the money meant little to them. However, this was not the case for some people.
"His arm should be kept warm. Move moderately and ensure that it does not get injured."
"Okay."
Having taken his leave of Zhou Xiong and child, Wang Yao drove home. This time he planned to do a detailed treatment plan.
On the other hand, Zhou Xiong and his son left Shenghua hotel and moved to a cheaper hotel. For so many years, because of his son's illness, he had spent a lot of money. These few days, he had chosen to stay in Shenghua Hotel because he was waiting for Wang Yao's confirmation, and was also afraid that Wang Yao would think that he was unable to afford his son's treatment fees. His friend had mentioned that this young man's treatment and medicine fees were very expensive and furthermore the treatment would take a while. From the young man's mannerisms and speech, he was able to gauge his character; he looked to be a kind man. As such he chose to move to another place, in order to save money.
Upon reaching home, Wang Yao started to create a detailed treatment plan.
According to his thought process, this child's treatment required a few stages—each stage required different lengths of treatment time. As to how much time was needed, he needed to perform the actual treatment to be able to determine and adjust accordingly.
Firstly, the child's weak constitution needed to be reformed. His current situation involved not only his dry and atrophied arm, but also the multiple problems with other parts of his body. These problems had to be resolved first, otherwise, they would affect the treatment of his arm and might result in a more serious ailment.
The ability of the Regather soup to strengthen the bones would help reform his constitution and strengthen his corporeity.
He still had some herbs left from the last time he purchased from the Chinese Medicine company. For the pertinent ingredients Shanjing and Guiyuan, he would be able to exchange for them in the system.
Returning to Nanshan hill, he prepared the herbs and planned to start decocting them the next day.
It was nighttime, in a hotel in Lianshan county.
A man sat nearby wiping the sweat off the child who was lying on the bed. The child's brows were furrowed; he was curled up in the bed and in great agony.
"Kang, is it unbearable?"
"It's okay, Dad. I can tolerate this," the child said through gritted teeth.
The man did not speak, but reached out to pat and knead the child's body, hoping to lessen his pain, to no avail.
"Dad, you sleep too."
"Okay."
Zhou Xiong felt helpless and anguished. If possible, he wanted to bear his child's pain on his behalf.